


Vulnerable

by CherriesJubilee (Cherries_Jubilee)



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Enemies to Friends, Multi, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Canon, Post-Overwatch Recall, Team Talon (Overwatch), temporary paralysis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 13:35:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30073044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cherries_Jubilee/pseuds/CherriesJubilee
Summary: Ashe is rescued from a Talon facility, and left temporarily paralyzed. McCree comes to terms with the death of Overwatch and Gabriel Reyes. They never intended to do it together.
Relationships: Elizabeth Caledonia Ashe & Jesse McCree
Kudos: 1





	Vulnerable

“Dr. Ziegler!” Lúcio called, running down the hallway from the medbay. “We’ve got a recovered Talon prisoner. She’s unconscious in the medbay.”

Angela nodded, setting down her coffee and hurrying down the hall. In the medbay, Baptiste was tending to a pale, gaunt woman lying unconscious on one of the beds. “She’s malnourished,” he explained, “but we worry there may have been something more. Tracer, D.Va, and Reinhardt found her during a raid on a Talon facility.”

“Do we know how long she was held? Talon tends to follow a pattern in interrogations.”

“Not for certain, we’ll have to wait for her to wake up. But, by what I can tell, it was definitely a while.”

“Lúcio, run her through facial recognition,” Angela said, “we need all the clues we can get.”

“On it.”

“We should take her in for an X-Ray, partially for broken bones and partially for any trackers she may have on her.”

She gritted her teeth as she guided the bed into the X-Ray room. Angela could only pray that this woman would recover, and that whatever information she held could help turn the tide of the war.

* * *

McCree used to run alone. He had a job to do, and it paid well for the most part. McCree had never like splitting his share.

But whenever a man he thought long dead resurfaced, he felt he had no choice but to join up with him. So, McCree began to work alongside one Soldier:76, or as McCree knew him, Jack Morrison.

Jack never talked much about what he had been doing in New Mexico in the first place, or why he concealed that he was alive for so long. McCree envied him that he was such a ghost, he could have used a disappearing act lately. It was fine with McCree, as long as Jack didn’t get in the way.

Then Jack found out about Overwatch’s recall. He wanted to go back, even if it was as Soldier:76. McCree was adamant he wouldn’t go back.

“We have a duty to them,” Jack argued, “they need us. And quite frankly, we’re barely scraping by out here. We could use the support.”

“Yeah, well it was easier to get by whenever it was just me,” McCree mumbled.

“I know you left Blackwatch, but this is the new Overwatch. They’re the best bet at stopping Talon and the Second Omnic War.”

McCree sighed, taking his signature hat off his head. “Do you know why I left?”

“Gabe was always hush hush about it. I always figured it was because you were worried about being found out by the authorities.”

“It was part that, but also ‘cause I found out Reyes hid somethin’ from me. Somethin’ real big. I freaked out, I couldn’t trust him after that. So I took off.”

“Gabe isn’t Winston. Or Reinhardt, or Tracer. This isn’t the same Overwatch,” Jack said.

“Maybe you’re right,” McCree grumbled.

“What’d he hide from you anyway?”

He looked out the dusty window of the motel they were staying in. The red and orange array of mesas and rock formations spread for miles. “You remember the sting operation I was arrested in?”

“Sure. Everyone does.”

“Reyes always said there were no casualties. It made sense, everyone either stayed, fought, and was arrested, or escaped and reformed the gang I was in. He lied, though. He killed two of the leaders, people I considered family. There was a... a video. From one of the vehicle cameras.”

McCree wrung his hands. “The third leader, Ashe, survived, though. She saw what had happened. And... it changed her. In the video, she let out this awful scream, and it haunts me.”

Jack was silent for a minute. “I’m sorry. That you had to learn about that that way. To be honest, I was wondering what Ashe was referencing whenever she told me that she hated Overwatch. She said they did something to her family, but not what.”

McCree blinked. His mind connected what Jack had just said. “I’m sorry, did you just say you had talked to Ashe?”

“Yeah, a weeks before I found you.”

“Jack, that was six months ago. Did it never occur to you that I knew her?”

“Oh. I forgot?”

He groaned and put his head in his hands. “How did you even talk to Ashe?”

“I broke into her warehouse.”

“You WHAT?” McCree exclaimed.

“I’d heard a rumor she’d gotten her hands on an old, intact Overwatch database. One with compromising information. I went to destroy it. Turns out she started the rumor to bait out Talon into giving her a bunch of money for some old crap,” Jack explained. “She caught me, and figured out my identity. Ashe said she’d keep quiet, and I offered her a job with Overwatch. She told me they did something to her that she wouldn’t forgive so easily. So I left.”

McCree sputtered for the right words. “Did she say anythin’ else? Is she workin’ with Talon?” He questioned.

“No. She says Talon also is unforgivable in her book, and that she just wanted to screw them out of some money. When I brought you up, though, she had something to say then.”

“That I ditched her? I didn’t ditch her, I got caught. And I took the best option. I was a kid.” McCree crossed his arms across his chest.

“Well, not really.”

* * *

_Seven months earlier_

“McCree shouldn’t be the reason you don’t rejoin,” Jack insisted.

Ashe scoffed at the mention. “I’m spiteful, but not that spiteful. I ain’t forgivin’ Overwatch for a different reason.”

“Okay, I know he also stole from you, but that was also technically Overwatch tech.”

“That ain’t it either.” She stubbed out a cigarette against the dole of her boot. “McCree’s a coward, when it comes down to it. I wouldn’t care if we was workin’ for the state police, as long as he told me he was okay. The idiot lemme think he was dead for years, until I found out by chance he was alive ‘n well.”

Ashe frowned at nothing in particular. “I grieved him, Morrison. I blamed myself for his death. Only to find out he was perfectly fine, and had never even thought t’ call, or e-mail, or anythin’. That’s the reason I can’t stand his smug face.”

Jack sighed, rising off the crate he was sitting on. “Okay. I get it. You won’t join. But I’m begging you, don’t join Talon either.”

“I don’t care for Talon either. Bunch’a entitled pricks, preachin’ peace and causin’ chaos. Trust me, I ain’t on their side either.”

She held out her hand, and Jack shook it. “As nice as this has been, Morrison, get the hell outta my warehouse.”

“Yes ma’am.” Jack pulled his mask back over his face. “Nice meeting you.”

“I’m sure it was.” Ashe waved and turned on her heel, exiting the warehouse. Jack chuckled. What an odd woman.

* * *

McCree looked deep in thought. “You okay?” Jack asked.

“She’s not mad I joined Blackwatch.”

“Maybe a little,” he shrugged, “But I think she would’ve forgiven you if you had told her you were okay.”

He leaned back and sighed. “I’m gonna turn in for the night.”

“And Overwatch?”

“What the hell. Let’s go back.”

* * *

Angela sat in a swivel chair beside the unconscious woman. She gazed up at the ceiling, taking in the steady beep of the EKG. “Have you got a hit yet?”

“I think so.” Lúcio turned the tablet for her to see. “Elizabeth “Calamity” Ashe. She runs a gang out in New Mexico and Arizon. Very well, by the sounds of it. Underworld chatter tells us she disappeared about seven months ago, during a bombing of her gang’s warehouse. She dealt in weapons and bombs, so it was easy to destroy. Apparently, she’s one of the best guarded and most powerful women in the Southwest, which makes it even stranger.”

“So she was probably a Talon ally, betrayed them, and they imprison her for it?”

“Most likely.”

Lúcio tapped at the tablet before showing her an image. “This mean anything to you?”

She studied the skull emblem, furrowing her brow. Angela took the tablet from him, studying the symbol. “Somehow, yes. I can’t remember where though, but I’ve seen it. Perhaps Overwatch tried to take her down once?”

“They did, once. At least, Blackwatch did.”

“That must be it,” Angela assured herself.

She wasn’t fully convinced, though.

* * *

Ashe squinted against harsh white lights. Her first thought was that she was back on Moira’s table, for more of her fucked up experiments, but quickly realized she was in a hospital of some sort. She hissed in pain as she propped herself up on her elbows.

A rosy cheeked blonde woman and a tall, dark skinned man with a beard rushed over to her, bombarding her with questions.

“Where am I?” She croaked.

The woman appeared to mentally face palm. “My name is Angela, and this is Baptiste. You’re with Overwatch.”

Ashe groaned weakly. “Are you in any pain?” Baptiste asked.

“I’m in pain everywhere. Everythin’ fuckin’ hurts.”

He suppressed a small smile while Angela stiffened at her profanity. “How about when I do this?” Baptiste pinched her thigh.

“No...” She frowned. “I don’t feel anythin’ at all. What kinda painkillers you got me on?” Ashe joked.

“Not enough to make your legs go numb.” Angela gave her a sympathetic look that Ashe was not liking. “We believe you sustained a spinal injury while you where in Talon’s custody. Of course, we couldn’t be sure as to how severe until you woke up.”

Ashe furrowed her eyebrows. “Are you sayin... I’m paralyzed?”

“Temporarily,” Baptiste assured her. “Our estimate is that you’ll be back on your feet in anywhere from six months to a year.”

“Six months?!” She yelped.

“With physical therapy and continued treatment, we’re sure you’ll be recovered as quickly as possible,” Angela tacked on.

Ashe had never felt so helpless before. First, Talon takes her home. Then her freedom. And now her ability to fucking walk. It wasn’t fair anymore.

She swallowed, but her throat was dry. “I’m guessin’ you’ve got questions?” She asked quietly.

“Just a couple.” Angela clicked her pen. “How long were you in Talon custody?”

“What’s the date?”

Baptiste checked a tablet. “January 8th.”

“Sssseven months?” Ashe estimated. “I’m pretty sure they got me in June.”

Angela stiffened and chewed her bottom lip. Ashe figured that seven months was a long time when it came to Talon. “Why?”

She chuckled to herself. “I tricked ‘em into givin’ me a bunch’a money for an Overwatch database with information on yet agents. It was just a piece a’ garbage though. They did not appreciate that.”

“You... tricked them?”

“That, and because I lied about havin’ an Overwatch database, they assumed I was workin’ with y’all. And I had a... meetin’ with an old Overwatch agent. Two, actually.”

“Which ones?”

“One I can’t tell you, ‘cause they asked me not to. Safety ‘n all. The other, you may know him, because he looks like he walked right outta an old western film.”

It clicked. “The symbol! You knew McCree before he was with Blackwatch!”

“Oh, great. So you know we don’t really have a great relationship with each other?”

“Bits and pieces. McCree never talked about it much.”

_Figures._

“Y’all got any other questions for me?”

Baptiste shifted uncomfortably. “What can you tell us about you imprisonment?” He asked.

She could tell them lots. Hell, seven months is a long time to be trapped somewhere. And while she couldn’t remember it all, she remembered enough to piece together what all they’d done to her. Instead, Ashe shrugged.

“If I’m bein’ honest, they had me pretty drugged up the whole time. It’s mostly cloudy, and I got some faces if y’all need identities. But from what I’ve heard of Overwatch and Talon, y’all already know all that.”

Ashe certainly wasn’t protecting Talon. If she could, she’d burn them all in a fire and smile while doing it. She supposed she was protecting herself. Accepting the things Talon out her through also meant accepting her life as she knew it was gone. Ashe was willing to give herself some problems in the future if it meant pretending that she had a home to go back to. She’d lived the last few months in a fog, and she could stand to suffer a few more.

Angela noted some things in her clipboard, thanked her for her time, and told her to get some rest. That wasn’t a problem for Ashe, the lights were hurting her eyes anyway. Her and Baptiste filed out, and he flipped off the light switch. She flopped back against the pillow, and stared at the dark ceiling, still reeling from this new information. Seven months. Paralysis. Overwatch, and by proxy, McCree.

She felt heavy sleep envelop her, and she wasn’t about to fight it. 


End file.
